For the third straight day, Miami saw its practice interrupted by weather.

Before the Hurricanes could even take the field on Thursday afternoon, lightning alarms sounded and the Miami’s players had to wait out another 40-minute delay before their first session in shells.

When practice finally got started though, the Hurricanes did exactly what offensive coordinator James Coley said they would: they rotated quarterbacks and gave several of them the chance to play with the first team.

Redshirt freshman Kevin Olsen got time with that group early Thursday, but didn’t look sharp with his throws. He missed receivers several times with some of his passes sailing wide and others coming short of their intended targets.

Kansas transfer Jake Heaps had several nice throws, including a 30-yarder to Malcolm Lewis late in Thursday’s session, again earning praise from Miami coach Al Golden, who said the 23-year-old veteran has been “a pleasure to work with right now.”

“Glad he’s here,” Golden continued. “Mature, grateful, and doing a great job trying to bring it all together for us.”

In other quarterback news, Brad Kaaya had another solid session. He's already made an impression with several of Miami’s receivers including Stacy Coley who said the true freshman had plenty of zip on his passes a la Stephen Morris.

“Even though he’s young, he’s picking up the coverage real good,” Coley said. “[Injured quarterback Ryan Williams] has been a great leader to Kevin, Jake, Brad and Malik so all of them are picking up everything real quick. Brad is showing a tremendous arm as well, just picking apart the defense.”

*New Miami running backs coach Tim “Ice” Harris spoke to the media for the first time since his promotion a week ago after Thursday’s practice.

The former Miami Booker T. Washington High coach had a hard time wiping the smile off his face as he described what it was like to be out on the field again, this time working with the likes of Duke Johnson and the rest of Miami’s backs.

“This is something I’ve been waiting for my whole life, you know,” said Harris, who was Miami’s assistant director of football operations before the departure of longtime linebackers coach Micheal Barrow forced a reshuffling of the Hurricanes’ coaching staff last week. “The hard work that you put in doing things the right way at the high school level, developing young people and then to have an opportunity to be the running backs coach at the University of Miami, it’s a dream come true.”

In his new role, Harris will be able to actively recruit for the Hurricanes off-campus, something Miami is hoping will pay dividends considering Harris’ reputation in South Florida and beyond.

“You know, I haven’t really gotten into that phase, but that time is coming,” Harris said. “I want to make sure that I get my foundation right here on the field and doing the things I need to do Xs and Os wise, and then the next chapter will be coming in, we’ll be getting into the recruiting process.”

*For the first time this season, receiver Rashawn Scott wore one of the orange jerseys usually designated for starters or offensive leaders. Golden said that Scott, who dealt with injuries last season and was one of three players suspended for Miami’s bowl game against Louisville, has shown more maturity this season than he has in the past.

“He’s just got to stay with the structure, be around good people, keep making good decisions and he’ll allow his talent to come to the surface,” Golden said. “I think that’s the biggest thing with Rashawn. He’s done a great job this summer. I’m proud of him. Clearly, he’s come back in the best shape of his life because he’s playing good football right now.”

*Though he declined to give specifics, Golden said illness kept running back Joe Yearby from practicing on Wednesday. The freshman participated in drills on Thursday.

“He was sick the night before. We were prudent with him. We held him out,” Golden said. “We didn’t like where he was at at 2 o’clock, we held him out. That’s it.”

*Toward the end of Miami’s practice on Thursday, coaches had players come off the field, grab drinks and head into the weight room for a brief cooling period. The team wore helmets and shoulder pads for the first time and will don the same equipment on Friday before moving to full pads on Saturday.

*Former American Heritage star Walter Tucker, who has been working out with the linebackers and is still expected to see time at fullback, may have had one of the best quotes of the day when describing the play of Johnson.

*Also Thursday, Miami announced that prospect Dexter Williams signed a grant-in-aid agreement with the Hurricanes. The 6-foot, 190-pound running back is rated the No. 84 overall prospect in the nation by ESPN.

He rushed for 1,072 yards on 179 carries for West Orarnge High School in Winter Garden.